Illegal Immigration

The Fourth of July weekend seems like a good time to examine some of the heat and rhetoric lately surrounding one of the basic building blocks of our society: immigration. There is widespread concern that too many immigrants are coming in and, worse, that waves of unskilled workers will form a permanent underclass and change the historic dynamic of American society. These are serious matters. Immigration is part of the DNA of America, and it's as necessary today as ever.

Re "Donnelly's voice from past," April 8 I am appalled at GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly's comments in 2006 that illegal immigration is an insurgency and should be rooted out. These comments seem to be a product of ignorance, stupidity and racism. Ignorance, because he apparently does not know that this country was founded and built by immigrants. Many successful businesses here have been started by immigrants. Stupidity, because Donnelly must not realize that immigrants have always been among the hardest-working members of our society.

Re "An immigration turning point," Opinion, Sept. 28 It's a boon and also a shame that we have to be told once again by Cardinal Roger Mahony to treat our brothers - in this case immigrants - as brothers. We seem to have lost the feeling for the "human family," as the cardinal states simply and eloquently. One doesn't have to be religious to stand up for the social welfare of all, but this concept is fast becoming an anachronism, one that now unfortunately may be the sole purview of liberals.

As Republicans seek to improve their standing among Latinos and women, fresh controversies in California could further damage the party with both groups. On Monday, a GOP gubernatorial candidate's inflammatory rhetoric likening illegal immigration to war came to light. The previous day, a conservative website on California politics was launched, featuring a raunchy photo-shopped image of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi - a depiction that prompted the most powerful Republican congressman from California to remove his column from the site.

Borrow some sense Re "Pay the mortgage, hurt the economy," Nov. 1 Lenders are learning quickly not to lend, which hurts the economy. Ultimately, banks do not set the lending standards; they are subject to the markets' willingness to supply capital. So paying a mortgage does not hurt the economy. Suggesting that it does is foolish. And since when did being underwater become a reason not to repay a loan? After making home loan payments as scheduled, I guarantee that when the last payment is made, the homeowner will not be underwater (unless asset values are negative, which is implausible)

U.S. Border Patrol agents are asking Mexican and Central American TV stations to help discourage illegal immigration. Will bad PR about the United States do the trick? Actually, simply reporting the news should do the trick. ALSO: Immigration: Leave it to the feds Photo gallery: Ted Rall cartoons Feds reach out to Latin American media to warn of border dangers For more from Ted Rall, visit tedrall.com or follow him on Twitter: @TedRall .

Re "Border issues still divide the public," Jan. 30 It irks me that immigrants lured to the United States by the availability of jobs, and who may be put on a path to citizenship, are the only ones asked to pay penalties. Businesses big and small welcomed them as cheap labor. Was that not breaking the law just as much as crossing borders illegally? The last time immigration reform was in focus nationally, some of us suggested that simply enforcing laws or enacting new ones that penalized the businesses that employed illegal immigrants would be enough.

Voters in Arizona's Maricopa County have reelected Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the face of Arizona's controversial immigration enforcement law. With 82% of the county's precincts reporting, the self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff” in America won a sixth term convincingly with 53% of the vote. Arpaio, 80, is best known for vigorously cracking down on illegal immigrants in his county - moves that won him admirers in and outside Arizona but also created a fissure dividing Latinos and law enforcement.

SACRAMENTO - Republican candidate for governor Tim Donnelly on Tuesday brushed off concerns that his 2006 speech comparing illegal immigration to war would hurt his chances of winning over Latino voters. "I have more support from Latinos than most Republicans in this state," said Donnelly, a state assemblyman from San Bernardino County, who spoke to reporters in the Capitol. “I have it because I've been outspoken on issues that affect them more than anyone else.” He said his campaign platform is focused on increasing economic opportunity in California.

Republican legislative leaders and a rival GOP gubernatorial candidate Tuesday slammed newly discovered remarks by Assemblyman Tim Donnelly comparing illegal immigration to war and urging citizens to rise up and join him in patrolling the border. “Mr. Donnelly's opinions are his and his alone and are not representative of the Republicans" in the state Capitol, said Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway of Tulare. The Republican leader in the Senate, Bob Huff of Diamond Bar, said he was not surprised by what Donnelly said in a 2006 speech, noting that the San Bernardino County lawmaker was the sole member of the Legislature to vote against a bipartisan resolution urging Congress to pass immigration reform.

WASHINGTON - Republican Jeb Bush knew that calling illegal immigration an "act of love" was going to light up the political world even before he made the unorthodox comment, and then he did it anyway. The former Florida governor and potential 2016 Republican presidential contender served up a tough-love message to his party, which has tried but largely failed to soften its often rough tone against immigrants. "We need to get beyond the harsh rhetoric to a better place," he said over the weekend during a 25th anniversary celebration of his father's presidency at the George H.W. Bush Library and Museum in Texas.

Comparing illegal immigration to a war that threatened the United States' future, GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly once exhorted citizens to rise and join his fight to stop people from crossing the border, according to audio of a speech he gave in 2006. "I am a descendant of Jim Bowie, who died at the Alamo," Donnelly, then a leader in the Minuteman border-patrol group, said at a rally in Temecula that year. "It is rumored that he took a dozen Mexican soldiers to their deaths before they finally killed him. How many of you will rise up and take his place on that wall?"

TUCSON - A federal judge has given opponents of Arizona's sweeping anti-illegal-immigration law access to emails, letters and memos between supporters of SB 1070 and legislators to see whether there are racial overtones in the messages. In December, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton in Phoenix rejected arguments made by two of the law's supporters, who maintained that communications sent to lawmakers who created and supported SB 1070 were confidential. Challengers to SB 1070 called Bolton's ruling a victory because their lawsuit was based partly on allegations that legislators meant to discriminate against Latinos and other people of color.

HOUSTON -- A conservative student group that sparked controversy with plans to stage a "Catch an Illegal Immigrant" game at the University of Texas at Austin has canceled the event under mounting pressure from critics. The Young Conservatives of Texas chapter at the university planned to play the game Wednesday. The object of the game was for students on campus to try to catch club members wearing “illegal immigrant” signs, then turn them in to the Young Conservatives' recruiting table in exchange for $25 gift certificates.

SACRAMENTO -- Nearly 20 years ago, when California was reeling from recession and aboil over immigration, voters passed Proposition 187, a punitive measure that sought to deny public services such as education and healthcare to those living in the state illegally. It was the electoral equivalent of a shout from the rooftops: nearly 8 in 10 of those who voted in favor said they wanted to send a protest message and half said they wanted to force Washington to respond to the problem of illegal immigration and its burden on the state.

Adding their voices to a debate that also has engaged media organizations, UCLA's undergraduate student government recently approved a resolution that condemned the use of the term “illegal” when describing immigrants in the U.S. without legal permission. The so-called “Drop the I-Word” resolution declared, in part, that: "We are aware that certain racially derogatory language used in media, political discourse and other institutional settings has historically bolstered the foundation for racially harmful actions including racial profiling practices, punitive policies targeting socially marginalized groups, hate crimes and violence.” It also said that some students have expressed fears about the appointment of Janet Napolitano as the next UC system president because she helped oversee an expansion of deportations during her recently concluded term as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security.